Wednesday, November 4, 2009

10 Signs Of Cyberbullying

How can you tell if your child is the victim of on-line harassment? There might be an issue with cyberbullying if your child:

looks nervous or agitated when on computer, and quickly exits when someone walks by

out of nowhere, "loses interest" in the computer, and avoids discussion about it, or suddenly starts spending more time on-line(reading what's been posting, searching for more postings, etc.)

is upset after using computer

is emptying history folder after being on-line and attempting to hide browsing history

suffers sleeping disturbances or mood swings

has a change in eating habits

engages in anti-social behaviour, including withdrawing from friends and family

is preoccupied with self harm

has physical symptoms such as nausea or headache

has a change for the worse in school grades

What you can do:

Educate your child: a) don't reveal personal information; b) don't say anything on-line that you might want to take back (sleep on it before you post it); c) don't post when you're angry; d) don't respond or retaliate to attacks. Don't engage in the conflict, or give the bully any more fuel.

Talk to them about the real reason kids bully: because the bullies themselves are unhappy, and it very seldom has to do with the victim.

Use technology to block the bully.

Participate in your child's on-line life: the more information you have about what he/she is doing on line, the better equipped you will be to help.

Teach your child to save the evidence.

Don't take away internet time - this may prevent disclosure from your child ("if I tell, they won't let me on-line anymore"). Instead, teach your child to come to you for help.

Keep the computer in a central room (do not allow internet in an unsupervised area).

2 comments:

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